An in depth, intellectual, well considered commentary and anlysis of our beloved New York Football Giants, published from our humble abode in Scarsdale, NY

Friday, September 13, 2013

Injury to Dan Connor

Looks like Da'Rel Scott injury is not too serious. He returned to practice the next day, though may have been somewhat limited. Amukamara has not returned to practice as of Thursday, but they still seem to think he has a shot at being ready for Sunday. The injury to Dan Connor was most serious, both in terms of the severity to the player as well as its impact to the team. Connor had a neck burner or stinger, which is a neurological injury to the neck caused by trauma. It could be a minor thing that gets better with rest or it could be a major injury. In this case, it was apparently severe enough for the Giants to put Connor on IR; you don't want to fool around with neck/nerve/trauma injuries. Connor was far from the best MLB in football, but he was very good in pass coverage and with the inclination of all teams to pass-pass-pass his presence in the lineup was fairly important. This is particularly true because the Giants decided to take the (20-20 hindsight here) unwise move to cut Bosworth, carry only 5 LBs and instead carry an extra DE in Ojomo. This move was to protect them in case JPP was not ready for the opener and/or Damontre Moore would be out for a longer time with his shoulder injury. Giants were already carrying an extra DE over what most teams do (JPP, Tuck, Kiwi, Moore, Trattou =5 + Ojomo =6) and in fact were carrying an extra DT, one of whom could play some DE if needed. (Joseph, Jenkins, Patterson, Rogers, Hankins =5). I know the Giants defensive strategy is to put the talent in the DL and then plan to get by without star LBs, but going into the season with only 5 LBs, leaves you very thin in case of injury. Which, unfortunately is exactly what happened. To make matters worse, JPP was in fact ready for the first game taking 50 snaps in the opener, Moore is likely coming back this week and Ojomo was cut without even dressing for the first game. Things worked out really badly for the Giants, but you could really question their strategy even if it had worked out well. They cut Bosworth to carry only 5 LBs and went into the season carrying 11 DL men, one of whom they already cut because there's no room on the squad for him. Maybe it's bad luck, but I think it was also bad planning. Now Herzlich is starting MLB and behind him on the depth chart is someone they signed off the street - Allen Bradford. (Sounds more like a lawyer from the firm of Dewey, Cheatam and Howe or a Wall Street analyst than a football player.) How well is he going to do not being in football shape and not knowing the defense. If Herzlich plays poorly in the passing game or needs a rest, I would move Keith Rivers to the middle and get Jacquian Williams in the game more. Seeing how Witten beat the Giants MLBs last week and knowing that the unit is further weakened by the loss of Connor makes it likely that Peyton and the Broncos will attack the Giants LBs this coming Sunday. Colts have a very dangerous, athletic, dynamic TE in Julius Thomas and he would be a difficulty to defend even at full strength. Last week he caught 5 balls for 110 yards. The truth is, he's probably needs to be defended by someone else anyway, although you can never tell about Fewell's schemes.